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Group B: Shane, Perry, Tommy, Chris, Matt"Hey, what's that-"Speeding up the crawl, spurred on by the promise of a change in scenery, a way out of the labyrinth;brought to a halt by the sight of the metal grille, but beyond that not more corridor, just empty space,dark space, the rush of water suddenly audible-Desperate fingers clawing at the grille, feeling, exploring, another pair of hands join the first, grasping fora hinge, an opening-"Stuck," Shane said. "It's either rusted over or-" He got a better grip on the grille, shook it forcefully. Itbudged slightly."Do you hear water?" Chris asked from next to him, peeking out through the grille for hope of a glimpsebelow. He made out the far-off sparkle of light on flowing water, a waterfall, perhaps, or river of somesort."Move back," Shane said. "I'll try to kick it in."He got down on the ground and shoved his foot against the grille, again, again... on the third time itfinally gave, its sides coming clean off the walls to land with a distant but distinct splash.Shane poked his head out the hole and peered downwards. Nothing much. He reached out a hand andfelt along the side of the wall below them, feeling for grooves or handholds or-A ladder.He closed his hand over the cold metal of the top rung, then the rung after that, and gazed back out atthe darkness. Shane withdrew his head from the opening."There's a ladder there," he told the others. "I don't know where it leads.""A ladder?" Chris echoed. "Did we end up in the water system or something?""Whatever it is, it's too late now," Perry said. He looked back the way they had come. "We can't retraceour steps.""So we go down," Shane stated."It's dark," Tommy said quietly. Claustrophobia, homesickness, Jjaks' death, and now the yawning pit ofdarkness through which he'd need to climb, no ground below that they could see, perhaps the ladderbroke off halfway and they'd be left clinging there until they fell-"Right," Shane said. He took a deep breath. "I'll go first. I'll see if it goes anywhere, and-""I'll go," Matt interrupted."...Sure?"Matt crawled over to the front, Chris moving back to let him through. He lowered himself over the edge,his feet finding the rungs of the ladder, hands moving down to grasp the sides.